What a full day! I got up at 7 am and went on the 8 am hike up to the 1800 year old cave paintings of the Khoisan people. It was a pretty arduous hike, mostly because our guide set a quick pace, and I was feeling pretty out of breath by the time I got to the top. I had to stop more frequently than some of the others, but I made it all the way to the top and took some good photos of the cave art. My legs were like jello coming down, but we took a more leisurely pace and I had the opportunity to rest at Doreen Falls for a bit.
On the way down, I was positioned near our guide, Lindeleni (Lyn da lan e) who is also a Zulu. Aside from him telling us about the snake that eats your brain, he also talked a lot about Zulu spirituality. One thing he spoke about was the Zulu belief in forgiveness. He said that Zulu power comes from the ability to forgive and that holding a grudge decreases your spiritual power. Since we got here in SA, all of us have marveled at the willingness of the Black and Coloured people to forgive apartheid. We have asked people why there isn’t more anger and tried to understand how the anger that simmers in the U. S. is not heated in SA. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that South African people of color have all come to love their white brothers and sisters, but in just 15 years, I thought there would be more anger aimed at whites. Instead everyone, everywhere we go have been courteous, friendly, etc, except for the guy in Durban. Did I tell you about him? Ok, I will do that at the end.
Anyway, my point is that perhaps it is this spiritual belief in the power of forgiveness that the Zulus, and as Lindeleni told me most other indigenous groups believe in, maybe…maybe it’s the idea that has allowed South Africa to go through the Truth and Reconciliation Commision and come through on the other side with more forgiveness than hate.
However, don’t get me wrong…there’s a great deal of crime here, but it is a crime born out of class discrepancy, poverty v. wealth, regardless of color that seems to be the norm. Blacks and Coloureds are victims of people from their own ethnic backgrounds as frequently as Whites are, perhaps more so.
Ok, so the guy in Durban, in case I haven’t told this story. When we first got to our hotel in Durban, I accidently rode the elevator up too far and had to ride it back down. A white Afrikanner man got in the elevator with me and asked if I had been there last night, which of course I wasn’t.
He said, “Oh than you missed the arrival of the South African gorillas.”
I looked at him puzzled. “Real apes,” I asked.
“No,” he replied. “South African apes.”
I knew what he was talking about, there were a lot of teenage athletic teams in our hotel for the KwalaZulu Natal Province all star teams in net ball, volleyball, soccer, etc.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” I said.
“All those kids, the darkies,” he said.
I just nodded and did my best to avoid a conflict, but he obviously read my face because he said, “You’re obviously not with my program. Where are you from?”
“The United States,” I replied.
“Well your prisons are 90% full of them too,” he said. “You can’t control yours any better than we can.”
“Doesn’t mean I support that,” I said.
At that moment a Coloured man who worked for the hotel, got on with us and rode a floor. The man gave him a similar speech, slightly less targeted, and got off on the next floor. I didn’t know what to say to the remaining Coloured man except, “Sorry that guy was an asshole,” as I got off on my floor.I talked to a couple other people in our group about the experience and several of them had been with people or seen Afrikaners who were complaining about the noise and such from the teens. They were loud and rowdy, but no more so than any other teens I’ve seen. There are moments here when you realize 15 years isn’t that long of a time, and despite whatever government you have…well, some people are just assholes.
On the way down, I was positioned near our guide, Lindeleni (Lyn da lan e) who is also a Zulu. Aside from him telling us about the snake that eats your brain, he also talked a lot about Zulu spirituality. One thing he spoke about was the Zulu belief in forgiveness. He said that Zulu power comes from the ability to forgive and that holding a grudge decreases your spiritual power. Since we got here in SA, all of us have marveled at the willingness of the Black and Coloured people to forgive apartheid. We have asked people why there isn’t more anger and tried to understand how the anger that simmers in the U. S. is not heated in SA. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that South African people of color have all come to love their white brothers and sisters, but in just 15 years, I thought there would be more anger aimed at whites. Instead everyone, everywhere we go have been courteous, friendly, etc, except for the guy in Durban. Did I tell you about him? Ok, I will do that at the end.
Anyway, my point is that perhaps it is this spiritual belief in the power of forgiveness that the Zulus, and as Lindeleni told me most other indigenous groups believe in, maybe…maybe it’s the idea that has allowed South Africa to go through the Truth and Reconciliation Commision and come through on the other side with more forgiveness than hate.
However, don’t get me wrong…there’s a great deal of crime here, but it is a crime born out of class discrepancy, poverty v. wealth, regardless of color that seems to be the norm. Blacks and Coloureds are victims of people from their own ethnic backgrounds as frequently as Whites are, perhaps more so.
Ok, so the guy in Durban, in case I haven’t told this story. When we first got to our hotel in Durban, I accidently rode the elevator up too far and had to ride it back down. A white Afrikanner man got in the elevator with me and asked if I had been there last night, which of course I wasn’t.
He said, “Oh than you missed the arrival of the South African gorillas.”
I looked at him puzzled. “Real apes,” I asked.
“No,” he replied. “South African apes.”
I knew what he was talking about, there were a lot of teenage athletic teams in our hotel for the KwalaZulu Natal Province all star teams in net ball, volleyball, soccer, etc.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” I said.
“All those kids, the darkies,” he said.
I just nodded and did my best to avoid a conflict, but he obviously read my face because he said, “You’re obviously not with my program. Where are you from?”
“The United States,” I replied.
“Well your prisons are 90% full of them too,” he said. “You can’t control yours any better than we can.”
“Doesn’t mean I support that,” I said.
At that moment a Coloured man who worked for the hotel, got on with us and rode a floor. The man gave him a similar speech, slightly less targeted, and got off on the next floor. I didn’t know what to say to the remaining Coloured man except, “Sorry that guy was an asshole,” as I got off on my floor.I talked to a couple other people in our group about the experience and several of them had been with people or seen Afrikaners who were complaining about the noise and such from the teens. They were loud and rowdy, but no more so than any other teens I’ve seen. There are moments here when you realize 15 years isn’t that long of a time, and despite whatever government you have…well, some people are just assholes.
Amen to assholes!
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